China is quietly ramping up pressure on U.S. exports — not through traditional tariffs, but by blocking American goods using technical regulations and red tape. These nontariff barriers are hitting U.S. industries in agriculture and energy especially hard, and many of those sectors are located in Republican-leaning states that strongly support President Donald Trump.

Over the past few months, Chinese authorities have used a mix of licensing delays, health complaints, and import bans to sharply reduce U.S. exports of beef, poultry, and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Analysts say this is part of Beijing’s long-running playbook — using health and safety standards as a political weapon while maintaining a façade of following international rules.

“This is what China does,” said Marc Busch, a trade expert at Georgetown University. “They disguise trade action as science-based regulation. It gives them deniability and hits where it hurts.”

While the Trump administration recently reignited the U.S.-China trade war with new tariffs, China was already preparing its own countermeasures. It has stopped renewing export licenses for dozens of U.S. meat facilities, claiming contamination with banned substances like the antibiotic furacilin — a charge the U.S. poultry industry firmly denies.

Tom Super of the National Chicken Council called the move “bologna,” noting that the drug has been banned in U.S. production for decades.

The LNG industry is also feeling the heat. China has drastically reduced imports of American natural gas, buying just one cargo so far this year compared to 14 during the same period in 2024. While LNG suppliers may find alternative markets due to global demand, the message from Beijing is clear: American goods are no longer welcome.

Energy analyst Leslie Palti-Guzman said this tactic is strategic. “China has long seen its gas market as a geopolitical tool,” she explained. “They’re ready to use it when relations with Washington go south — and that moment has come.”

China’s moves are especially targeted. States like Iowa, Nebraska, and Texas — where many of these industries are based — are strongholds of Trump support. Experts say Beijing is deliberately aiming at industries that are politically important to the president.

“These measures aren’t just about trade. They’re about politics,” said Ben Lilliston, a trade policy expert. “You can pay a tariff and still export. But these rules stop trade completely.”

This approach is not new. Back in 2001, after China joined the World Trade Organization, it started blocking imports of U.S. soybeans and other crops over alleged pest and GMO concerns. In 2018, when Canada arrested a Huawei executive, China retaliated by halting Canadian canola imports — a ban that was only lifted when the executive was allowed to return home.

Now, Beijing is also tightening controls on exports of critical minerals used in electric vehicle batteries and plastics. That’s bad news for the U.S. clean energy and petrochemical industries, which rely heavily on Chinese supplies.

“This hits Trump-friendly industries hard,” said Al Greenwood from commodities publication ICIS. “China knows exactly where to apply pressure.”

Even if tensions ease, experts warn that these hidden trade restrictions are here to stay. “It allows China to say, ‘We’re just following the rules,’” said Greta Peisch, a former U.S. trade official. “But it’s absolutely part of a larger strategy.”